Hold Onto Me
by stndabvthcrwd1
Summary: Det. Flack is finally in a relationship, with Anna, a friend of Danny's. But just when the Detective thinks things are going well romantically, Anna is kidnapped and he has to fight for what matters most. M for language and sexual references; FlackOC
1. Enjoy Your Evening

Anna jumped slightly as her phone vibrated - it always caught her off guard. Smiling to herself as she recognized the ID, she answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey." The deep voice answered. "How are you?"

"Busy, but that's work. How about you?"

"I'm actually almost done here. I was wondering if I could ask a lovely lady out to dinner?"

"Oh well that depends. Is this lovely lady worthy? Do you think I'll approve?"

"I think so. She's smart, and funny and beautfiul, and a total bad-ass."

Anna smiled. "Sure she won't kick your ass at dinner if you have to go, then?"

"Aw, have some faith in me. I told you I'm done for tonight."

"Well then I suppose you may go to dinner."

"Wonderful. Seven okay?"

"Seven's great, I'll be done by then."

"Great. I'll pick you up from work, okay?"

"Alright."

"See you later babe, love you."

"Love you too Flack." Anna shut the phone, and glanced at the clock with a sigh. Two more hours, and she'd be on her way to dinner with the most gorgeous man she knew. She tapped away at her computer a couple times, browsing through some remodeling pictures that needed her opinion.

Anna started at the knock on her desk, and looked up, alarmed. Her heart beat slowed as she recognized the tall, dark haired, blue eyed, handsome as hell man standing in front of her. "Don. I didn't hear you come in."

He smiled, teeth a bright white against his already pale skin. "All the easier to surprise you."

"You get a kick out of that?"

"Of course."

She shook her head, and stood, stacking up a couple papers and putting them in a file. "Alright, I'm done. Dinner?"

"Yes ma'am." Don gently took her hand and pulled her towards him, then kissed her lips softly. "Missed you."

"Missed you more." She said, breathless after the slightest kiss.

He smiled again. "Doubtful. To the vehicle?"

"As you say."

He extended his arm with a grin, and she instead just took his hand. They walked to his black Cadillac Escalade, and he opened the car's door for her in a gentleman-like fashion. Anna thanked him, and seated herself. Once Don had got in on the other side, started the engine, pulled out of the lot and been driving a few minutes, Anna asked him where they were going. "Just to a nice place." Was his only reply.

"What is all this for?" She asked.

"What'd you mean?"

"Why are you taking me out to dinner? Something happened at work, didn't it? A promotion or something?"

"No promotion."

"Then what?" Flack didn't answer her. "Flack." She prodded, slight warning in her voice.

He looked at her for a second, and smiled. "We had a big bust today. Seventy five kilos of cocaine, nine of meth."

"Seriously?" Her eyesbrows raised in surprise.

"Yeah. It went down pretty easy, no one was even shot at except for the druggies. Never wound up hurting anyone though, and got us a huge bust. I just figured a little celebration would do no harm. And it's been a while since you and I had a romantic evening together. I'm sorry about that, really, I know it's mainly my fault." His striking ice-blue eyes glanced at her in shame.

"Flack, it's not your fault. I know how your job is, really. I understand. And I'm learning to live with it."

"I just feel like I don't...take care of you enough."

"I don't need taken care of." Her voice turned almost harsh.

"No, I know that." He added quickly. "That's not how I meant it. I just sometimes feel like I'm not doing my duty as a boyfriend, you know?"

She nodded. "I guess. It's okay though babe, I understand your work and what it calls for. I love you none the less." He glanced at her again, slight worry in his eyes, but then he saw her reassuring smile and smiled back.

"Here we are." Flack stopped the car, and helped her out with a smile. They went inside, got seated and placed the orders for their drinks. Flack stared at Anna as they waited.

"..what?" She asked when she saw his eyes on her.

"Nothing."

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

"Why not?"

"It's weird."

"Is it?" His deep voice turned taunting and he set his elbows on the table, rest his chin in his hands and teasing her with his eyes.

"Yes." She answered, slightly nervous.

"Why is it weird?"

"Cause I don't know why you're staring. It's rude to stare, you know." She pointed out.

"Hm." Was his only reply, and his gorgeous eyes continued to hold her. She tried not to think too much about them, about him - how gorgeous the eyes were, such a light blue, providing a stunning contrast to his pale skin and dark hair and eyebrows. They were so teasing right now...trying to make her uncomfortable (suceeding) and causing her train of thought to be constantly scattered. "What are you thinking about?" He suddenly asked.

"What?" She asked, caught off guard.

"What were you thinking about?" He repeated.

"Why?"

"Cause I want to know." She hesitated. "Please?" He asked softly, and she gave in - his voice was too irresistable like that.

"I was, uh, thinking about your eyes."

"My eyes?" This seemed to amuse him.

"Yeah." They paused when their drinks were brought to them, then placed their meal orders.

"So what about my eyes?" Flack picked back up.

She shrugged and took a sip of her beer. "Nothing specific. They're just...amazing, really."

"Amazing?" He repeated.

She nodded. "Really. They're gorgeous. You're gorgeous." She winced as the last part slipped out. Okay, didn't people start making mistakes like that after they'd had a bit more to drink? "I mean-"

Flack just laughed, his deep voice creating a smooth, soothing chuckle. "That's one hell of a compliment." Anna only blushed. "Hey," He said softly, and took her fingers in his hand, his ice blue eyes boring into her dark ones. "You're gorgeous too."

She blushed and looked away. "I think we've both had too much to drink."

He laughed again. "We're on our first beer."

"That's enough."

"No tequila?"

She winced. "One mistake, and I am never going to hear the end of that, am I?"

"Doubt it." He grinned, and she shook her head, smiling in return. "Anna?"

"Yeah?"

He raised his beer. "Mind a toast real quick, before the meal comes?"

"Uhm, sure." She raised her glass. "To what?"

He thought for a moment, blue eyes looking to the side. Then they met with hers again, and he smiled. "To more romantic evenings, more time together-"

"So more drug busts?" She teased.

He laughed. "In a way. And....well that's all I have. I just want more time to be with you."

She blushed again, her heart beat thrown off. "Sounds wonderful to me." Their bottle and glass clinked quietly together, then Flack leaned across the small space and kissed her gently. She leaned closer, wishing to close the gap between them completely, and be able to touch him, and feel him, and taste him...Flack broke the kiss that was quickly growing too eager for a restaurant. He smiled handsomely at her.

"Easy love. We have all night."

"Mmm." She bit her lip, and eyed his dark blue suit, white shirt and silver tie appreciatively. He chuckled at her obvious struggle to be contained. And he couldn't help it - he wanted to tease her. So he inched closer to the small table, his legs on each side of hers, and slipped his hand inbetween her legs. She looked like she was going to bite straight through her lip, and her eyes widened. He didn't want to do anything too suggestive - they were in a restaurant and he wasn't the most outgoing of people - so he settled for just lightly brushing her thigh with his fingertips. She trembled slightly and closed her eyes, her breathing turning shallow. God, she wanted him so bad. He was so gorgeous, and so irresistable...how the hell had he been single when she met him? Anna tried to focus on keeping her breathing even. "Flack..." She whispered, eyes still closed. "Don Flack, if you plan on keeping me on this side of the table and you keeping your clothes on, your hand had better move."

He chuckled. "Is that a threat?" His deep voice teased, the slight New York accent helping give her shivers.

"Flack.." Her eyes opened, and his stunning gorgeousness almost knocked her out of her seat. God, he was perfect. At that moment, the waiter arrived with their food. Flack removed his hand, but didn't move any further away from her. They thanked the waiter as he set down their food, then Flack, after tossing a sexy, sly smile in Anna's direction, started to eat. Anna shook her head, then followed suit.

Once they had finished their meal - and another beer each - they paid and left. Anna had drunk a bit less than Flack, so she drove to their shared apartment. Almost as soon as they got out of the vehicle, Anna was on him. She kissed him strongly, then pushed him roughly against the car.

"Woah there," Flack said, and she began undoing his tie. He took ahold on her hands in his, and held them still. "Can you at least wait until we get inside?" She stared into his light blue eyes for a moment, hers filled with lust, and then nodded. He smiled. "Thank you." Flack then took her hand and led her into the house. They had barely walked in, and shut the door when Flack turned on Anna instead. His mouth connected with hers, and his tounge soon searched hers out. It was his turn now, and he pressed her against the wall. Anna's arms were tight around his neck, holding his mouth to hers. She sighed and then moaned slightly when he kissed down her throat. She pulled at his tie, and slipped it off his neck, the suit jacket then quickly slid over his shoulders, and he tugged at the top of her skirt, inching it down her waist. They had slipped out of their shoes by now, and were moving steadily moving towards the bedroom - shedding clothing as they went. Once they had hit the bed, Anna was only down to her bra and underwear, while Flack still had his pants on. Anna tenderly kissed his shoulders, and musceled chest.

"Don, you have to be..one of the most..amazing people.." She spoke between light kisses as his large hands ran over her body, giving her shivers. "I've ever met..so sweet...kind...caring...brave...strong.." Then she tugged lightly at the waist band on his jeans, and un-did the one button. "I love strong men." She whispered into his ear, and felt his body shake. Flack turned them around, his mouth finding hers again and gently pushed her onto the bed.


	2. MIA

Anna woke up with a sigh, and reached her hand out to the person next to her. Her hand fell down through air to nothing, and she felt only the mattress. She opened her eyes and raised her head. The space on the bed beside her was empty, Don was gone. But there was a note on the pillow, and she picked it up. Her eyes skimmed along the lines quickly. She sighed again, and rolled out of the bed, dropping the note into the garbage basket. Don had gotten called in early, and had to leave because there was more information on the dealers to the bust from the day before now. It was a big thing, she knew, but part of her wished her and Don could just have one normal night together, and a normal day afterwards. Or at least a morning where Don was still in bed beside her. Instead of greiving more over her lack of normal romantic nights/mornings, Anna sauntered into the bathroom to shower.

Once cleaned up, dressed and awake, Anna walked into the kitchen. She smiled when she saw the coffee in the pot, already made. One good thing about Don waking up before her was she rarely had to make the coffee. She set out a mug, poured in some coffee and added just the right amount of cream. With a warm sigh, she inhaled the steamy, delicious scent of the drink and took a sip. Hot, but refreshing. Her eyebrows raised as she saw the paper laying on the kitchen counter. Don's drug bust had already hit the news, and it was the headline. She picked up the paper, and skimmed a bit, knowing the jist of the story already. Anna smiled slightly to herself, seeing Don's name in the paper - Detective Don Flack, it always made her smile. She flipped through a bit, found nothing interesting, and tossed it back to the marble countertop. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was about time she was on her way to work - she had a couple appointments today to look at a few houses, talk to some of her co-workers about a couple things clients wanted, and call several different construction companies. She was going to be a bit busy. Downing the rest of her coffee, Anna picked up her keys, checked to make sure she had her wallet and any other necessary items, then left the apartment.

Once she had been driving for several minutes and was stopped at a light, her cell phone rang. She looked at the ID, and didn't recognize the number. Rather than ignore it, she pressed 'talk' - it was possibly a client. "Hello?"

"Is this Miss Leanna Orvelle?" A quiet, almost raspy voice asked. The speaker sounded to be male, and an older one at that.

"Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling?"

"Thomas Stone."

"How may I help you Mr. Stone?"

"Well my friend reffered you to me, actually. You are a remodeler, right?"

"Yes sir." She glanced at the vehicles around her, then gently pressed the gas pedal as the light changed colors.

"Wonderful. My wife and I were wondering if you could possibly take a look at a back deck area we would like to put in our backyard?"

"I suppose so, when would you like me to come look?"

"Well actually, I must say I'm very sorry for the inconvienence, but we leave for town soon, and the only time we're not busy is...today."

"Today?"

"Yes. I know this is very short notice, but we couldn't find anyone else we liked, and my friend said you were excellent. I understand if you can't do it, though."

"Well hold on, where do you live? I can see if I can fit you in today." He gave her the address. "That's not too far from where I work. One second, let me look through my appointment list." She pressed the button on the phone for hold, then pulled out her small notebook. Flipping through the pages and driving, Anna muttured to herself about people are their constant annoying needs. Finding an open area, and picked the phone back up and hit talk again. "Okay Mr. Stone, I have an opening at eleven thirty and four forty-five. Will either of those work?"

"We have a dinner planned tonight, so the one at eleven would be preffered, I think."

"Okay..."

"Thank you for taking us in such short notice."

"No problem, glad to be of service. Have a good day, sir."

"You too." He chuckled at this, and Anna thought it sounded off. Maybe it was cause a semi drove past at the same time.

Anna left her office at a quarter till eleven, and very easily found the street of the address the man had given her. She drove up the street a ways, looking at houses and apartment building numbers. She couldn't find the right number. Hadn't he said something about it being on the other side of the alley? She stopped her car and climbed out, leaving her things behind for now. She'd get them when she found the house. Anna found the alley, and looked at the house on each side of it. Neither of them was the right address. Maybe the man had meant down the alley? She glanced down, then changed her mind. He would have said down the alley if that was the case. She was walking past the alley again, to see if maybe there was another alley she hadn't seen, when something caught her from behind. She jumped and twisted when she felt arms lock around her, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Hey hey, easy there." A male voice said lightly, as if she wasn't struggling at all. The man behind her started dragging her backwards, towards the alley.

"Let go!" She yelled. "Help! Somebody!" She kicked, and struggled, but to no avail. "Somebody help me!" She yelled again, and then a cloth was held over her mouth and nose. She tried to turn away from the overpowering smell of chloroform, but couldn't get away. Anna could feel her eyelids drooping, and her stuggles becoming weaker. The drug filled her nostrils, and put her under.

She woke up with a headache, and drowsy. Anna shook her head slightly, trying to clear it and tried to hold her head in her hands. Her hands were tied. She looked down, and saw her wrists were bound with duct tape, and there was a tight rope around her chest, holding her securely to the chair. Her ankles had duct tape around them too. She then noticed her pockets were empty, and her jacket was gone. No keys, no wallet, no phone, nothing. Just for the hell of it, she strained at her restraints, pulling and twisting and mutturing curse words.

"Might want to calm down there, Miss Orvelle." Her head snapped up at the familiar voice. A man, early fifties perhaps, dressed casually, was leaning against the doorway, and holding a camera. Camera? She glanced around the room, gathering in her surroundings. Not much to see, she was on a lone wooden chair, in the middle of a cell-like room. There was nothing else and the only one besides the man in the room with her was one more man standing still at the doorway, so it was obviously some sort of holding cell. "Remember me?" The man asked.

"Thomas Stone."

"Supposedly." He smiled, not comforting at all. "So, did you have a good day?" He asked teasingly, and lifted the camera to snap a picture of her.

"What are you doing?"

"Just some good ol' photography. You understand that, don't you?" He took another picture.

"You son of a bitch.." She growled, and jerked at her restraints again.

"Now now, such a pretty lady shouldn't be swearing so."

"What the hell do you want? Why am I here? Where am I? How do you know me?"

"Easy, we'll answer all of that in fair time."

"What do you want?"

"You'll see."

"Why do you need me?"

He shook his head. "I'm not in the mood for questions at the moment, sorry dear. But," He glanced at a watch on his left wrist then looked up with a smile. "I think we shall be getting those soon."

"What? What do you mean? Dammit, tell me something!"

"In time, Miss Orvelle."

"God dammit, let me out of here!!" She jerked at the rope around her and desperately tried to tear at the duct tape around her wrists. 'Thomas' just shook his head, pulled something out of his pocket, and stepped towards her.

"Time to calm down, I think." He said gently, and held the chloroform stained cloth to her mouth again. Against her will, Anna sank into unconsciousness once more, not hearing the flash of the camera one more time.


	3. Rules of the Game

"Time to wake up." A voice said, and she felt the chair she was seated on shake. Anna jumped awake, only slightly drowsy. She looked up and again saw the man - Thomas or whatever - and he was holding a cell phone to his ear. He smiled at her and held the phone to her. "Someone wants to talk to you." She stayed still and didn't say anything. The man's expression grew annoyed. "Don't be rude. Say hello." He instructed.

Anna didn't see the harm in just saying hello. "..hello?" Her voice shook slightly.

"Anna?" The deep, accented voice on the phone answered. "Anna, is that you?"

"Don?" She grew alert and pressed her ear closer to the phone. "Don, whats' going on-"

The man took the phone away and spoke into it again. "See? She's fine. I however, sadly, cannot guarantee she will stay that way." Anna heard the quiet buzz of Flack's angry voice on the other end. "Ah ah, don't go making threats. I have your girlfriend, remember. And if you cooperate, she'll be just fine." He smiled at her again as he spoke, and a shiver slid up her spine. He listened for a moment to whatever Flack was saying. "No, I'm afraid not. One talk per phone call, please." He paused again as Flack's voice rose over the phone. He shrugged at whatever Flack was saying. "I counted that as one talk and your judgements of a talk mean nothing to me. So you know what I want. I'll call you in a bit." He seemed to find this amusing, and shut the phone.

Anna stared at him as he walked around in front of her. "What the hell are doing? Why is Don involved in this?"

"Oh your detective is all of this dear, not involved. You are the one that is involved."

"What am I involved in?!"

He sighed. "An unfortunate mishap. You read the papers right? Oh wait, I suppose you wouldn't need to read them considering you're in a relationship with the head detective and all." She just glared at him. "You see dear, Det. Flack busted some of my boys and took some drugs that are not his. Now, my boys were trying to transfer out that shipment to some...clients of mine, but your detective and his team interrupted them. However, my clients don't care about drug busts, they just want their remedies, y'know. And they refuse to pay me for not delivering." Here he leaned closer to her, to further inhance his point. "I need that money." He leaned back. "So, I need my drugs back. Or at least my guys, and the tail the cops have trying to find me needs to drop."

"Why am I here?" Anna asked, knowing the answer.

He smiled. "I of course cannot get anything I want, unless I have something they want. You know this."

"What makes you think they'll want me?"

"Two things. One, Detective Flack is in a relationship with you. He's probably breaking down doors to try and find me right now. And second, you're a civilian hostage." He shrugged. "That simple."

"So.." Anna tried to think all of it through. "You're holding me here, hostage, until Don gives you your drugs? That's not going to happen."

"Hm, perhaps. But I will be holding you at least until I get my guys back, and they stop trying to find out who I am."

"You're the drug boss?"

"Pretty much." He smiled, unnveringly.

"You're not going to get what you want."

"Well that may be the case, but if so," He opened up his jacket, revealing a gun. He smiled still. "They won't get what they want." Anna stared at the gun and felt a sweat break out over her skin. He seemed to smile broaden. "Now, doesn't that just make things interesting?" His voice was quiet, threatening.

She tried to look away from the gun, and think about something else. She swallowed, and thought of something. "What were the pictures for? Earlier?"

"Those? Oh I just needed something to send to Det. Flack. You know, to get his attention."

"You sick bas-"

"Shh." He raised a finger to his lips. "Time to call your lover again." She winced - how did he know so much about them? The man pulled out his cell phone and dialed quickly. He listened for a moment, then smiled when the line picked up. "Ready to listen again?" He glanced at Anna. "Not yet. No worries, you'll get to talk to her. First, you're listening to me. You know what I want, and I know what you want. This can be a very easy exchange, Detective." He listened for a moment more. "Sorry, I can't do that. But you're going to do something for me. I want my kilos you stole back, and my men. Unharmed." He listened to Flack again. "I'll give you an address, arrive there with my men. My sources will tell me whether or not you have back up, so don't try anything. Once I see it's all okay, I'll call you again and give you another address. This address. Deal?" He smiled. "Good. Alright, here's your girl." He held out the phone to Anna.

She jumped at the chance to hear Flack's voice. "Flack?"

"Anna! God, Anna I'm so sorry about this."

"Don, you can't do what he says, you can't!"

"Anna, don't worry we know what we're doing."

"But you can't be for sure!"

"Don't worry, he's not going to-"

"Time's up." The man took the phone back. "Hello Detective, I'm back. Now you know what I want." He hung up the phone, and put it back in his pocket.

"Is he giving you your men? Your drugs?" Anna asked.

"Presumably. He seems to have a problem with giving me back my coke, even." He shook his head. "Oh well. It's a work in progress." He smiled. Anna stared at the floor. "Don't look so down, dear. You'll be just fine as long as Detective Flack doesn't try anything silly."

"What's your name?"

"You should know I won't answer that."

"Okay, so you're Thomas Stone?"

"As far as you know."

Anna sighed and looked around again, then noticed something. "What are the guns back there for?" She saw several different guns behind her, in the corner of her eye.

Thomas smiled. "Precaution, let's say. And, I think you talk too much." She saw him reaching into his pocket, probably for the chloroform again.

"Wait! You do that to me again, and there's a good chance I might not wake back up. You ever heard of over dose, Mr. Druggie?"

He stared at her for a second. "I suppose." He finally said, then turned and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?"

He turned around and looked at her. "Making some arrangements." He smiled and left Anna alone in the room, to try still to tear at her bonds.

-

Flack paced back and forth in his office. "Dammit, why can't we get anything?!" He growled and threw a folder at the wall.

"Don, calm down. We're going to find her."

"We can't trace the fucking phone? You're sure?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we won't find her."

"It means our chances are slimmer! Dammit, we don't even know if he'll really give us Anna back! For all we know, he's gonna kill her cause she knows too much or some shit!" Flack kicked over a chair.

"Don, knock it off or I'll talk to the chief and have you pulled off of this."

Flack froze and stared at Mac. "You can't do that."

"I will if you don't calm down. Just take a deep breath, and try to relax. You can't rush things, you know that."

Flack sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I know. I'm just so...worried about her. She's in all of this because of me."

"Don't beat yourself up over this Don, we're gonna get her." Mac tried to comfort his friend.

Don nodded, the look of pure, cold dedication in his eyes. "I'll make sure of it. Anyone told Danny yet?"

"No, we're trying to keep this quiet for now. As of right now, the only person in the lab that knows about this is me."

"That's probably for the best. She's known him since school, and from what I know they're pretty close, so he's bound to freak out."

"He'll be no worse than you."

Flack half smiled. "You can't blame me Mac. I love 'er."

"I know Don. And we're gonna get her back, safe. Trust me." Mac rested a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Flack nodded. "Yeah, I know." He said quietly, then grew stern and determined again. "So are we following through on listening to this guy?" He stalked out of his office, into the main room, pointing his question at his team.

"We've got his men together, sir, and ready." One man answered.

Flack nodded. "Good. We don't have the address yet, but we need to be ready. Remember, five people in the van, holding his men. Only five. We are unsure whether or not our suspect is going to retrieve his men from us there, or have us leave them at his final address. Until then, we just wait."

"Sir, isn't this is a little too risky? We're going into an insecure zone, with no back up and hardly any men, totally unprepared." One man asked.

"Yeah, you trying to get us all killed?" Another piped up.

"Jennings," Flack looked at the first man that had spoken. "I understand your concern, and you're right it is a risk. But we're taking it cause it's all we've got. You," He pointed at the second man. "Shut up and you're off the case."

"But-"

"Shut up and go." He said again, and his voice got threatening. The man glanced around embarrassingly, then left the room. Flack looked around the room. "Anymore whiners?" The crowd was silent. "Good. Now you kno-" He pulled out his phone as it vibrated. He flipped it open and read the text, then looked up at his team, blue eyes bright. "We have an address."


	4. Human Nature

Anna grew alert as Thomas entered the room again. He was smiling again, and holding some sort of small screen. "Wanna see your boy?" He asked. She didn't reply, cautious. "Really, it's okay. I just was gonna watch him stop at the first address, and decided you might want me to share the movie with you." Anna stared at him. God, he was creepy. He didn't wait for her answer, and dropped the small screen in her lap, her bound wrists holding it still. Reaching over her shoulder, Thomas flicked it on and pressed a couple buttons on the side. Then, an image of a black van flickered on. The van was parked infront of a large restuarant. Anna's blood chilled as she recognized it - Flack had taken her there the night before.

She looked up at Thomas. "How the hell do you know all of this?"

He smiled creepily again. "Oh my dear, don't under estimate me." He turned back to the screen, so she did too. She couldn't see anyone, because the windows were tinted. "Detective, open your van's left door please." Anna looked at Thomas, thinking for a second he was talking to himself, then noticed a small phone in his ear. She watched the little TV as the van's door opened up. Thomas pressed a button on the phone in his ear, asked what someone could see, then did it two more times. Finally, he went back to talking to Flack. "Alright detective, looks good. My sources tell me there's no one tailing you but if I find you're lying, you will regret it. Now I'm going to send you another message with the address to this building, you will follow it and make positive there is no back up. The address will actually be a little off, I'm afraid. Y'know, to make sure you don't try anything. In the end though, we'll all get what we want. Oh, do me a favor, detective?" He glanced down at Anna. "Step out of the van for a second." The voice on Thomas's phone buzzed angrily. "Calm down, calm down, I'm not going to do anything. You have a fan watching right now detective, and I think she'd love to see your pretty face." Anna didn't hear any murmur of reply on the other line and watched the screen closely. She clutched the little TV closer and she saw the passenger door to the van open, and out step Flack. Pale, dark haired, in his suit, and looking very very tense.

"Flack.." She said softly, still clutching the TV. God how she wanted to just jump through the screen, into his arms and have him tell her everything was gonna be alright. Cause in rational sense, her chances of getting away from this Thomas guy alive were incredibly slim. She was finally starting to panic, seeing the control he had over Flack, just with her.

Thomas smiled. "Alright detective, you can go back in. She's had her moment." Don looked around the streets for a moment more, not seeing anyone, and stepped back in the van. "Tell your driver to start going down the street, straight. In a couple minutes, you will recieve the address on your phone. Follow it, and then I'll get my men and we'll talk." Anna heard Flack's deep voice on the other line get louder. Thomas tsk-ed. "I still want my kilos back, I'm afraid. Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll work something out." He smiled to himself, and took the phone out of his ear, then took the little TV out of Anna's lap. "Isn't this all fascinating, dear?" He asked her.

She stared at him for a long moment. "You didn't let me talk to him." She said finally.

"Pardon?"

"You told him we could talk once per phone call. You didn't let us talk that time."

"Oh, why you're right. Hm. What a shame. No worries, there'll always be another chance." He said absently, pulling out another phone and texting down a message - the address for Don. Once done, he looked up and smiled. "Now, as long as all goes well, we're going to be visited by some friends of mine in a little while. Don't be frightened though, they will do you no harm." He smiled, and left the room again.

Flack was tapping out an overly energetic beat on the van's dashboard. His light blue eyes were scoping out the streets and houses, looking for any possible sign one of them might be holding Anna. He bit his lip neverously.

"Don, settle down, we can't rush anything." Mac tried yet again to calm down his friend, to no avail. "We've just got to wa-" He paused as Flack nearly jumped out of his skin when his cell phone vibrated. "Got an address?" Flack nodded and told him. Mac turned the van, heading towards the assigned street. It didn't take long, only a minute or two, and they were faced with an alley. The van paused, idle, then Flack got another message - go down the alley. Mac slowly steered the vehicle down it, passing rows of rotting shacks and warehouses. Flack's phone rang this time, and he jumped again.

"Hello?"

"Stop the van."

"Mac, he says to stop." Mac nodded, and parked the van. "Okay." He spoke back into the phone.

"Good. Now, you're going to stay in your van and let my men go. Understand?"

"Not fully."

"Oh?"

"Let me talk to Anna. Otherwise you don't get your guys."

"Now detective, we both know I'm going to get my men anyway. You wouldn't risk your girlfriend like that, would you?" Flack stayed silent, and ground his teeth. "Let my men out of the van. Now." The voice was getting firmer.

Flack glanced in the rearview mirror, to the men sitting behind him. "...alright." Flack put his phone on hold, and opened up the passenger door, stepping out of the van. He slid open one of the side doors. "Get out." He instructed, and pulled out one of the criminals, then another. The last two jumped out on their own.

"Don, what're you doing?" Mac stepped out of the van too.

"Making this a fair game, Mac." Flack pulled his .45 out of the holster at his waist and leveled it at one of the men.

"Don! What the hell?!"

"I know what I'm doing Mac." Don's voice was even and calm, when he pulled the still-on-hold cell phone out of his pocket. He pressed talk again. "I'm guessing you have cameras or some shit watching me?"

"You're testing me, detective."

"Well then now we're even. All I'm asking for is simply talking to Anna. The longer it takes, the more bullet holes your guys are gonna have."

"You wouldn't."

Flack fired the gun, and the man in front of him dropped, holding his arm. "One." He heard the phone shuffle.

"Flack?"

"Anna!"

"What did you do? He looks pissed off.."

"I got a little sick of him ordering me around. I wanted to talk to you."

"So you.."

"Shot one of his men."

"Don!"

"In the arm, relax. And now I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

"I guess. Don, what's the plan? Are you listening to him?"

"For the most part. Has he told you a name?"

"Thomas Stone, but I don't think that's real."

"Alright we'll look into it. Don't worry babe, I'm gonna get you out of there ok?"

"I know Flack, you're doing whatever you can."

"I'm gonna get you back. Trust m-"

"Alright detective you had your time. Now let my guys go. They know where to go."

"As you say." Flack nodded at his team, who each were holding one man, and they let them go. "He says you know where to go." Flack told them. They looked at each other for a moment. "So go." He looked at them like they were idiots.

"You an your team need to get back in the van first. Don't watch where they go."

"How the hell-"

"Do it detective, or I can always put bullet holes in my hostage too." Flack stood, holding the phone and skimmed his eyes on the surroundings in the small alley way, hoping futiley that he might see how the man was watching them. Not finding anything, he hung up the phone.

"Go, now. We won't be watching." Flack ordered the suspects. Two of them started walking down the alley, and after glancing at him for a moment, the other two followed. Flack stared after them for a second, took aim, and got the same guy as before in the other arm. He smiled to himself as the man yelled and climbed back into the van, ordering his men to do the same. Mac then climbed in and glanced at Flack, seeing him pinch the bridge of his nose like he had a headache.

"Are you okay Don?"

"I just want to get Anna back."

"We're going to, don't worry."

Flack sighed. "We can't watch where his men go."

"Well we don't need to." Flack looked at Mac curiously. "A couple of the suspects were tagged with trackers." Mac explained.

Flack smiled slightly. "Good thinking. But," His eyes grew troubled. "There's a chance Stone will check them."

"Stone?"

"Anna said the man was reffering to himself as Thomas Stone."

"Want me to get someone at the lab on that name?"

"No, I don't want to risk Danny getting wind of this. Pass it on to someone at my office, and have them run it as an alias, through the database. See what we can get."

"Alright. Now what do we do?"

Flack looked out the windshield, and didn't see the suspects anywhere. "I don't know."

"Stone didn't say anything more?"

"He said once he gets his men back, then he'll call and we'll talk about giving him his drugs back." Flack made a face. "I personally would prefer to just follow his men with the trackers right now, and arrest his ass when we get there."

"Don."

"I know." Flack snapped. "We can't do that. I have a better idea. Where's the tracking camera?" Flack glanced behind him, asking his team.

"Here." One of them held forward a small, squarish remote looking thing, with a screen.

"Alright. So once his men have stayed in the same position for five minutes, and/or he has called us, Mac you'll call my office for a back up of about ten men okay? As a precaution, we're going to assume Stone somehow has my phone traced or tracked. Maybe both, but either way I can't make any phone calls. Stone is going to demand his drugs, so when we are supposedly driving to meet the other van Mac will order, the one with the drugs, we're going to drive in the direction where the trackers show they are stationed, okay? When we get to the building they're in, hopefully the other van will have arrived there too. We have to be quick though, so Stone doesn't have a chance to do anything. Then we go in, and get Anna back. Okay?" No one said anything. Flack looked around at them all. "Okay?"

"Don, it's all fine except doesn't Stone have people watching us?" Mac finally spoke up.

"Yes."

"Then how to do expect to get in and get Anna, without him seeing you? He'll kill her before we get close enough."

"But he wants his drugs back. We've got a lot of kilos Mac, he's gonna be hurtin' if he doesn't get 'em."

"He wouldn't risk himself for the drugs."

"But he already is, doing this. We're going to follow through on the plan."

"We won't get close enough to get Anna. We have to try something else."

"There is nothing else, Mac!" Flack almost yelled. "This is what we have!" He shook the tracking screen. "This is it! We have to follow this, and get Anna back!"

"We can't risk losing anyone, Don."

"Of course not, no one on the team right? But Anna is up for grabs!"

"Knock it off Don, you know that's not true. Start thinking straight Don, or you're off the case."

"I'm thinking fine Mac. In fact, last I checked I'm the leading detective on this. So you all," He now turned his steely-blue gaze on the five other men in the van. "will follow my orders, which for now stand as that plan. Mac, call for back up."

On a normal case, under normal circumstances, Mac would've had Flack imediately pulled off the case and possibly suspended, for talking like that to a CSI officer with higher rankings than him (although CSI rankings didn't exactly apply in this case). But he knew Flack didn't mean to get harsh, or rude, he was just overly stressed and trying not to snap. So Mac only glared at Flack, then pulled out his own cell phone and dialed the station for back up.

"Okay, they're on their way. They're coming from the opposite direction so we can pass by the building Stone has Anna in, and they're bringing a squad of eight men."

"They know we don't have an address yet?" Flack asked.

"Yeah, and they said they can wait."

"Alright good."

"Sir?" One of the men in the back asked.

"Yeah." Flack looked behind him, at the man.

"Sir, the tracking spots haven't moved for almost six minutes."

"They've stayed still?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. I think that's our signal."

"Shouldn't we wait until the suspect calls, sir?"

Flack considered this moment, and then smiled as his phone rang. "I guess we don't have a say." He answered the phone. "Yeah."

"Detective I'm a little disappointed you thought you had to ruin one of my men."

"Oh yeah. Real sorry about that."

"I knew you would be. I'm also real sorry about your girl." Flack stayed silent, so Thomas went on. "Her left hand is a titch broken now and I'm afraid I don't have any one with medical expertise here."

"Son of a bitch.." Flack growled.

"You brought it on yourself detective. Now, about my kilos...I want them in here in an hour."

"That's not very much time."

"Yes but I would hate for things to run late, and it's almost seven already."

"We don't have them with us."

"I'm sure you'll get them here. Order in another van, do what you must. No getting more men with you though."

"I still don't know where you are."

"And I'm okay with that. All in good time, detective. Now, order a van to meet you or whatever you must do, and get my kilos. I'll call you in fifteen minutes, to see what your arrangements are. Good bye for now." And Thomas hung up.

Flack told the team and Mac what was happening. "So," He said. "We should be able to follow through on the plan just fine."

"Alright." Mac nodded. "And the tracked spots haven't moved for almost ten minutes, so it's safe to say the group is stationed there."

"Good. Someone call the back up team and give them the address. Tell them to meet us there in twenty five minutes. Stone is calling in fifteen, and we'll inform him of the van. At about that time, they'll probably have started moving so if he sees them he'll dismiss them as the drug-movers."

"What if he calls because he sees us coming?"

"How will he know that we're coming to the building? If he's paying any attention, we could posssibly just be passing to meet the van."

"Do you think he'll buy that?"

Flack shrugged. "He has to."

"He's human Don, what if he doesn't?"

Flack didn't answer.


	5. On the Move

Anna sat straight and still, eyeing the men standing around her. Thomas was pacing. He stopped in front of her and glared. "You know, I have half a mind to break something else in you." Anna didn't answer, the pinkie and ring finger on her left hand throbbing painfully. "Your detective is pushing my tolerance."

"If you would just forget about your damn drugs, and get me out of here, it'd all be fine!" Anna argued.

"You, bitch, are an annoyance. Maybe we should just shoot you now? Your damn boyfriend has crossed the fuckin' line!" One of the men stepped forward, yelling.

"Why, because he finally made things even? He finally got some of what he wanted? And you lost some blood?" She wasn't blind to the mans bandaged arms.

"Fuckin' little-" The man lunged at Anna, hand raised and she flinched, waiting to be hit. The blow never came and she opened her eyes, to Thomas holding the man's arm. Right where one of the bullets had hit. The man was gasping and obviously trying not to yell out.

"Don't touch her. We can't risk the detective denying our demand for the drugs back, and touching her, _hitting_ her, endangers that. Understood?" Thomas still held on to the man, who was in obvious pain, and looked around the room. The three other men slowly nodded. "Good." He released the man, who then fell to his knees gasping, and clutching his arm. Thomas casually walked to the front of the small room. "This is all going to be settled within the hour. We have to start being careful, more careful than we have been. In the back," Thomas pointed to the back corner. "You will all find an assortment of firing weapons. Keep one on your person at all times. Go look." The men dispersed to the back of the room, and Anna sweated as she heard the metal taps of guns being moved around, and the murmur of the men talking. Once Thomas's men had made a satisfying find with their weapons, they stood at random spots in the room.

Thomas pulled out his cell phone again and quickly dialed, then put it to his ear.

Flack answered his phone, recognizing by now Thomas Stone's number. "Flack."

"Do you have my kilos, detective?"

"We have a van coming to meet us a couple blocks away."

"Where is this van coming from?"

"North."

"It's not back up?"

"No."

"Good, very good. I'm glad you're making this easy, detective."

Flack smiled to himself. "Yeah well, doesn't look like I have much of a choice, does it? Let me talk to Anna."

"This is the last time." Thomas said, and Flack didn't reply.

"Don, you can't be following through-" Anna's slightly panicked voice came on.

"Anna, don't worry. We have it all worked out, everything's going to be fine."

"But Don you have to know they won't let me go! You know they're going to-"

"Anna! Stop. We're going to get you out of there, okay? And what did they do to your hand?"

"They only broke a couple fingers, I'm alright."

"You aren't hurt anymore?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm just tied up on this chair, in a room. I don't know wh-"

"Ah now she was going a little far there, don't you think, detective?" Thomas's voice cut off Anna's sentence.

"Let her talk, Stone."

"She has detective. Now, meet your van and return to this spot when you have my kilos. Understood?"

Flack clenched his jaw. "Yeah."

"Good. I'll call you then."

Flack hung up and stared out the windshield.

"So he thinks we're meeting the van, coming north?" Mac asked.

"Yeah. So he won't do something if we start coming towards his building....I think."

"You think?"

"I can't know for sure, Mac. You said it yourself - he's human, he's unpredictable."

"Yes, but are you sure this plan will work?"

Flack looked over at Mac, his light blue eyes distressed and tired. "....no." He said finally. "But it's all we have."

Mac nodded, understanding, then looked at the alley in front of them. "So we go this way?"

Flack reached onto the dashboard to pick up the tracking screen again. "Yeah. Go down it six houses, then take a left. Follow three houses, turn right so we're on the path from before." He rested the screen back on the dash. "Follow that four more houses."

"Then we're there?"

Flack nodded and watched the streets and houses carefully as Mac started to drive. "Then we're there."

A man came running into the small room Anna was being held in. Everyone in the room imediately jumped, and those with weapons raised them at the intruder. Thomas though, once recognizing the man, waved for everyone to relax and then set his attention to the arrival. "What's wrong, Robert?" He asked.

"Sir, we've noticed that the target is coming this direction."

"They're coming here?"

"It appears so, sir."

Thomas thought for a moment. "Wait, what direction are they coming from?"

"South."

"They're not coming here, Robert. They're meeting their van, which is coming from the North."

"But they're coming right to here."

"Passing by, is all. All we have to do is stay quiet, and they'll never know we're here, understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Thank you the warning Robert, but it's unecessary. However if they appear to stop within a twenty yard perimeter, I want you to alert us, okay?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well. Go back to your post now." Thomas dismissed the man, who nodded and left again. The four men in Thomas's group stood glancing at each other, still seeming slightly tense. A couple of them were murmuring to each other, and Thomas appeared to know what their problem was. "Calm down everyone, everything is going fine. The detective and his men will pass by to their van, and as long as we stay still and quiet they'll have no idea we're here."

"But what if they some how know where we are?" One man dared to ask.

"Then we will stand our ground. Remember, we still have the girl and I am sure Detective Flack won't try anything too risky when she is in our hold." Thomas shrugged. "But the chances of that happening are not high, so relax." Even with Thomas's attempt at reassurement, no one relaxed. Least of all Anna. She sat, hand throbbing and mind racing, wondering if what Thomas was saying was true - Flack was just passing by to meet with their van. He had said they had it all worked out and "everything's going to be fine", but did he really mean it? Or was it just said to keep her calm? What if Flack had no idea where they were, or how they were going to get her out? What if they couldn't?

Mac stopped the van. "Alright Don. What does the screen show?"

Flac picked up the small tracking screen and studied it. "We're two houses away. They're right here," He pointed a couple red spots on the screen. "Which means they're...right there." He then pointed out the window to a single small, run down looking house, further ahead.

Mac nodded. "Good. So are we waiting for the back up?"

"Yeah, they should be here in less then five minutes. Once they get here, we can-" He stopped speaking as he felt the van begin to move. He looked over at Mac, alarmed. "Mac, what the hell are you doing?"

"We can't follow through on that plan, Don."

"Why the hell not? What the...stop the damn van, Mac!"

"We're risking too much like that. It's better we try to get Anna back during the exchange."

"Dammit Mac, that's not the plan!"

"It is now, Don."

"Stop the damn van!" Flack watched in dismay as the building holding Anna slowly slid by. "God dammit!" He slammed his hand into the dashboard, ignoring the sting it left.

"Don it's too risky to- Don!" Mac yelled as Flack opened his door. "What the hell- DON!"

Flack dropped out of the van and winced as he sit the ground on his side, rolling. He heard Mac yelling at him, but ignored him. Wincing again, Flack stood up shakily - jumping out of moving vans wasn't a daily task for him. He turned around as he heard the van stop, then jumped as a bullet whizzed past him. For a second he thought Mac or one of his own men had shot at him, then another landed right in front of his foot and he noticed they were coming from above - from rooftops. That explained how they'd been watched. Rather than wait to get shot at again, Flack took off towards the building Anna was in.

"Don!!" Mac yelled behind him, then swore as a bullet hit the roof of the van. Ordering Flack's men to be ready, Mac slid out of the passenger door to the ground then guestured to Flack's team to do the same. The specially trained officers quietly opened their door and climbed out one by one until they all were crouched on the ground beside the van. "They're on the rooftops. One at ten o'clock, two at your twelve and one. Ready?" Mac whispered. The men nodded. "On three...one...two...three."


	6. No More

Anna jumped when she heard gun fire. Thomas's men all raised their guns, and Thomas pulled the weapon from under his jacket, holding it ready. Another shot, then one more and then footsteps, running footsteps. Anna tensed, assuming it was Robert with news on the gun shots. The footsteps were at the door now and Thomas's men looked on, tense. Then....the footsteps just stopped. The men standing around the room looked at each other, confused. Only Thomas continued to stare at the door. But the footsteps stayed quiet for a moment, and Thomas nodded at one of his men to go look out the door. The man didn't look thrilled, but went anyway. He slipped out the door, and all was quiet for a moment. Then scuffling, like shoes against cement, and a thud like something heavy was dropped. The man didn't come back. Now the men looked really nervous. But when Anna looked at Thomas, he only appeared determined.

Tiny taps were now heard, like many very quiet footsteps. They soon stopped too. Anna was sweating, having a good idea who was outside the door but worried too. Thomas's side may now be down four to...however many people Flack had with him, but that didn't mean Thomas wouldn't try to kill her. Murmurs were outside the door now, but they were too quiet to hear anything. Thomas sighed and the murmurs stopped.

"Detective, this is all very fun but I'm getting bored." Thomas spoke loudly, which was unnecesary considering everyone in the building was hardly even breathing at this point. Thomas waited as if expecting an answer, but none came. "I know you're out there detective. And I'm going to assume you killed my man. That alone should allow me to make the sides even a bit, and have some fun with your girl..." Still no answer. "Suit yourself." Thomas walked in a circle around Anna, eyeing her. She swallowed, uneasy. She jumped when Thomas flicked out a small knife, and a fresh sweat broke out on her skin. She tensed as Thomas came closer, then clenched her jaw and closed her eyes as he lightly dug the knife into her left shoulder, and slid it down. The cut wasn't deep, but it was bleeding. She made no sound and Thomas smiled. "You have a tough one here, detective." He said aloud, then took Anna's left hand in his. Her eyes widened in panic as he observed the two broken and swollen fingers. He smiled again, and squeezed the fingers. That did it - Anna cried out.

Everyone jumped, and Thomas released Anna's hand when the door slammed open and into the wall. "Anna!" Flack yelled, and tried to get to her. He moved two steps - Thomas's men yelling with guns raised the whole time - and then three of his own men grabbed his arms and held him back. "Dammit!" Flack struggled, and almost slipped out of his men's grasp. Then he froze.

Thomas's men had their guns raised and pointed at Flack and his men. Thomas had his gun pointed at Anna. She was frozen still, terrified by the cold, metal barrel pressing lightly against the side of her head. Thomas tsk-ed disappointedly.

"Detective that was a bit of a rude entrance." He scolded, the gun never wavering. "And you lied to me." Flack's ice-like eyes didn't leave Anna, and he stayed silent. "You told me you were meeting your van. Is there even a van, detective? I'm starting to wonder. I'm also starting to wonder if you're as worried about your girl as you show.." Anna flinched as the gun cocked. Flack made as if to lunge again, but his men held him back.

Then Anna noticed something outside the still open door. Was that Mac? It was. And he was just putting his phone away...he had been talking on the phone while Flack and his team busted into a room with crazy men with guns? What the hell? But Mac stayed back, in the shadows.

"Now, detective, I'm still going to get my kilos." Thomas carried on.

"Why would I agree to that?" Don challenged, still held by his own men, and his light blue eyes were furious.

"Because," Thomas pressed the gun firmer against Anna's head. "You wouldn't want to risk Miss Orvelle anymore, would you?" Flack clenched his jaw and didn't answer. "I didn't think so. Now here is the new plan-" He was cut off by an explosion. Everyone flinched and covered their eyes, except Flack, who took advantage of the distraction to get to Anna. A section of the north wall had been blown out, and Flack's back up flooded in. Now outnumbered by almost ten people, Thomas's men dropped their weapons and raised their hands, giving in. Thomas stood, still holding his gun and looking surprisingly calm. The back up squad yelled at him to drop his weapon but he didn't appear to hear them.

"Anna? Anna are you okay?" Flack was asking worriedly as his large hands were easily ripping through the duct tape at her wrists and ankles, then moved to trying to untie the rope around her chest and arms.

"Thomas he's...what is he doing?" Anna was distracted by watching the crazy drug dealer. He had dropped his weapon, but was pulling something out of his pocket. Don looked up at Anna's words, and studied the thing Thomas was holding.

"Oh shit." He swore. "Everyone DOWN!!" He yelled, and at once everyone in the building dropped to the floor, Flack wrapped his arms around Anna, his back to Thomas, and Thomas pressed the button on the device he was holding - a detonator.

This explosion was larger than the back up squad's had been, and the force of it pushed Flack forward. Pieces of the building fell around everyone, injuring a couple of Flack's team and the back up squad, one large piece even killing one of Thomas's men. After a couple minutes, when the dust was settling, Flack raised his head and looked around. A little over half of the small building had been destroyed, and what was left were just patches of cement wall and half of the roof. People were groaning, and swearing, but moving around. Flack then looked down at Anna, who was still tied to the chair and curled up as much as possible, against his chest.

"Anna, are you okay? Are you hurt?" His deep voice was soft, and concerned.

Anna uncurled and tried to move each of her limbs before nodding. "I'm alright. What about you?"

"Fine." He automatically replied. "Let's get you out of this chair." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his muilti-tool, and opened up the knife part. It took a couple tries, but he eventually got the rope cut apart enough to get Anna out of it and help her stand. Flack looked around the room. "Everyone, if you can stand, do so now and get outside.. I need a head count. Mac, are you okay?" He called.

"Just cut up a bit, but I'm fine." Mac called back, from the front of the room. Slowly, person after person stood up, brushed themselves off, and checked for injuries. Then they shuffled outside, the back up squad and Flack's team already seizing what was left of Thomas's men.

"Flack.." Anna said uneasily.

He turned back to her, and saw her looking at something in the corner. He walked over. "Wh-...oh." Thomas was dead. "Mac?" Flack called over his shoulder. "Can you have some call for some ambulances? And we're gonna need a couple body bags."

"I'm on it."

Flack nodded, then put an arm around Anna's shoulders and steered her out of the destroyed building, back to the van. He opened up the back doors, lifted her up - ignoring her protests - and set her inside. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"That was unecessary. I could have gotten in here fine on mine own." She insisted.

He ignored her. "How's your hand?"

She looked down. "It hurts."

He nodded. "The fingers look pretty broken. We're getting some ambulances soon, okay?" She nodded, then her eyes widened.

"God, you're bleeding!"

"Huh?" Flack looked confused.

"Your shoulders!"

He looked at each shoulder, and saw at the very top of each one - where his flak jacket wasn't protecting his arms - his light shirt was red. "Oh. I'm alright, I hardly feel anything."

"Are you sure? Take your flak jacket off."

"I'm fine Anna."

"Just take it off, I want to make sure you're okay. Please." Flack sighed and removed his flak jacket, wincing slightly as his shoulders stung with the movement. "See? You're hurt."

"I'm alright. Anna," He said gently as she began trying to look closer at his shoulder. "I have bled before and lived."

"I know, I know. I'm just..."

"Worried?"

She half smiled. "Yeah."

He laughed lightly, the deep chuckle reassuring. "Why are you worried? I'm the one in the flak jacket. You're the one that was being held hostage, and has broken fingers. I think we can both safely say you got the worst of the injuries."

"But I'm fine." She protested.

Flack raised his dark eyebrows and turned when ambulance sirens whined up behind them. Medics jumped out, some pulling stretchers, others with body bags and Flack nodded one of them over. "She's got a couple broken fingers, and possibly some truama." He explained.

"Don!" Anna yelped, surprised, then glared at the medics. "I do not have truama. Check him out first, he's bleeding on his shoulders."

Flack shook his head. "I'm alright. Help her."

"Don, I-"

"Ryan will look at the lady, and I will check you, okay?" One of the medics interupted, talking to Flack.

Flack nodded. "Alright. But really, I feel fine."

"Everyone says that, Detective. We learn to ignore them." The medic smiled and walked Flack a few feet away, to the back of an ambulance. He had Flack pull down the top of his shirt, over his shoulders, and then cleaned out the bits of dirt and cement that the bomb had ground into Don's skin. Flack winced as the tweezers poked into his torn flesh, but held still. Once the pieces had been removed, the medic cleaned off the blood, and put bandages over each shoulder. After having a couple scrapes on his face checked, Flack pulled his shirt back over his tender shoulders, thanked the medic, and walked back to the van where Anna was seated. As he approached, the medic was just leaving.

"So she's alright?" Don asked the man, preferring to hear his view of Anna's injuries before she told him she was fine.

The medic, Ryan, nodded. "Her pinkie and ring finger and broken, but until we get back to the medical room at the lab, or the hospital, I can only put them in a brace. The cut on her shoulder-"

"Cut? Oh, shit, I forgot about that." Flack swore.

"The cut is fine, detective. It's fairly shallow, and so far no sign of infection. I gave her some morphine, and just settled with a bandage over it for now. Until we get to one of the medical rooms though, I'm afraid that's all I can do. We don't have the proper materials here to stitch the cut up, but she'll be fine for an hour or so with the morphine."

Flack nodded. "Good, thank you. And she's not in any sort of shock, is she?"

"Not from what I can tell. She communicated just fine when I asked questions, and she doesn't seem dazed or anything of the sort. Other than being a little bruised and bloody, she's just fine, Detective."

"Alright, thank you." The medic nodded, then left to help someone else. Flack approached Anna, who was messing with the brace on her fingers. "I think you're supposed to leave that alone."

She looked up at the familiar accent, and smiled. "It's annoying though."

"Until you get in a medical room, you have to live with it. How's your arm?"

"I don't feel anything, so fine I suppose. What about you? Are your shoulders okay?"

"They're fine, the doc bandaged 'em up."

"What had happened?"

"When I blocked you from the explosion, some of the rubble cut into my arms is all."

Anna eyed his shoulders, as if she expected to see the cuts and scrapes through his shirt. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, trust me. I'm just glad I've got you back." He smiled handsomely and Anna blushed slightly.

"I'm glad too." She said softly, and he jumped onto the edge of the van next to her and carefullly and lightly wrapped and arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him, and he gently slid them back further into the van, seeing a couple of his team coming towards it, presumably to drive it back to the precinct or the lab. Anna sighed, finally tired from the long day, and rested against Flack's side, head carefully against his shoulder and hand on his chest. Flack kept his arm around her, and leaned so his cheek was on her head. They both sat like that, eyes closed and peaceful, on the ride back to lab.


	7. Friend's Concern

Anna woke up with a sigh and stretched, only to then wince at the sting in her left arm. She opened her eyes, and tried to examine the stiches trailing down several inches on her shoulder. They didn't look bad, just like stitches. She then lifted up her hand and observed the cast that had replaced the brace. It looked kind of weird, only on about half of her hand, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as the brace. Noticing she was on a small hospital bed, she swung her legs over the side, preparing to slide off the bed and to the floor. She was interuppted by somone rushing into the room though, and looked up in surprise at the sound of the door flying open.

"Anna?" The man asked worriedly, and hurried over.

"Danny?" She answered.

"God, are you alright? I heard what happened. I can't believe Flack didn't tell me, dammit!"

"Danny, I'm fine. See? Stitches and a cast - I'm fine."

"I'm so glad you're still alive, Anna." Danny said and hugged her carefully. "As soon as I heard what happened, I panicked thinking something had happened to you."

"I'm okay."

"Are you sure? You were kidnapped by a fuckin' drug leader, Anna."

"I know. Where's Don?"

"I think back at the precinct, making sure his team is okay. And debriefing what's left of Zane's men...again."

"Zane?"

Danny nodded. "Zane Karles."

Anna's face was blank for a moment, then she figured it out. "The man that went as Thomas Stone?"

"Yeah, that was his alias. His real name was Zane Jorge Karles. He's a big drug dealer from Alberta. God knows how he passed the border."

"Oh. When can I see Don?"

"I dunno. Probably whenever he's done debriefing, which should be soon. Although you're going to need to be debriefed too, and so will Don."

"Why us?"

"To file a right report, we need to know every aspect of what happened. We need to know why everything was happening and what their plans were from Zane's men, and then how you were kidnapped and what happened there from you, and then Flack's plan and what he did to get you back. Also we'll need Flack's team's views, since they got split up."

Anna stared for a moment. "That's a lot of debriefing."

Danny smiled crookedly, flashing his pointed canines. "It's always a lot of debriefing."

"I think I'm finally starting to figure out why Don never has a set schedule. I just can't quite figure out how this is so appealing to him."

Danny shrugged and sat on the bed beside Anna. "Same reason I do what I do."

"Which is?"

He smiled again. "Right, you're just a house modeler. You wouldn't get it." He teased.

Anna rolled her blue eyes. "Just explain it, Dan."

He shrugged again. "Not much to explain. It's just that...after we solve a case, when we lock up whoever killed whoever else, there's this sense of doing something...right, y'know? You can never help but be proud that even after all the death and terrible shit we see, we are actually doing something good, and right. I can't explain how it feels, you just have to experience it. Just one of those things."

Anna thought for a second and nodded. "I think I get what you're saying. And I understand how that would drive Don - and you - to keep doing what you do." She paused for a second. "Actually...in truth, I've been thinking about quitting remodeling homes. It's just not as interesting as it used to be." Danny's blue-green eyes stared at her. "So for the past...I don't know, four or five months maybe, I've been thinking about trying for the lab. I couldn't work in the precinct, it'd be kind of strange being so close to Don and I'm sure I'd wind up panicking whenever he was sent on a case that might be even slightly dangerous." She blushed and looked down. "So I think I'd like the lab. I've got the degrees for it and you could keep an eye on me." She looked back up and smiled. "But I don't know. I've just been thinking about it."

Danny was quiet for a moment, then nodded and smiled slightly back. "I think you'd like it, too. There's a lot to learn though, and you've seen how hard it can get. But I think it'd work for you. Plus, you'd still see Don pretty regularly."

"Yeah."

"When do you think you'll look into it?"

"I'm not sure. As soon as I can, I guess."

"Good. I'll bring you up to Mac, okay? Soften him up for ya before you meet 'im." Danny smiled his crooked grin.

Anna laughed lightly. "That'd be good. I've heard he's pretty tough."

"Nah, Mac ain't so bad. He's intimidating for a bit, but he's one of the best people you'll ever meet."

Just then, the door to Anna's room opened again and another man entered. "Sorry if I'm interuppting anything," He apologized. "But briefing room number three is ready for Miss Orvelle."

Anna stood up and sighed. "That's me."

Danny rose too. "Alright. Trust me 'lex, there's nothin' to bein' briefed. Just answer everything as clearly as you can remember it, alright? You'll be out in a jiffy." Danny smiled reassuringly.

Anna nodded and smiled timidly back. "I'll take your word for it." She then followed the man out of the room, to briefing room number three.

Once everyone that needed it had been debriefed, the report was pretty solid. When Anna had been kidnapped in the alley, she was taken to the building where they had found her, Zane and eventually Zane's men. The pictures Zane had taken of her were used to send to Flack on his computer, along with a threat of what might happen to her and his demands for the drugs and his men. After a couple phone calls back and forth, it was settled Flack would take a team of five with him and go to Zane's given address. Mac insisted on coming however, just so they'd have another helping hand. Flack got a little out of control when they were told to let Zane's men go, but everything still went smoothly. Zane was fairly dangerous and smart to have watchers following them, but he wasn't smart enough to think to check for trackers when he got his men. Because of his amueturety, Flack and his team could easily figure out where Anna was being held. As a decoy, they ordered back up diguised as a van transferring the drugs for Zane, but then things lost balance. Mac didn't follow through on the plan Flack wanted, because there was a chance Zane had men already with him, and the four they had sent to him only added to the increse in numbers. Going in blind would have been too big of a risk, and Mac believed waiting for the back up would work better. Flack refused to listen, and went out on his own to retrieve Anna. In doing so, he helped the team figure out where the shooters/watchers on the roof were, and then ran off to the building holding Anna. Once he got outside the door to the building though, Flack had enough sense to realize that he would more than likely be killed if he just went in. He stopped, and rethought what he was doing. In that time, Mac and the rest of Don's team shot down the rooftop shooters. Inside the building, Anna, Zane and his group has heard Flack and Zane sent one of his men out to investigate. When the man got out the door and had taken a few steps away from it, Flack came behind him and they wrestled for a couple seconds, then Flack managed to get his arm around his throat and hold until the man passed out. The thud Anna and Zane heard was – as they thought – Zane's man's unconscious body hitting the ground. Then Mac and the rest of Flack's team showed up quietly, and talked with Flack for a few seconds before Zane started talking through the closed door. He was obviously trying to provoke a reaction from Flack, and after cutting Anna's arm didn't make her make a sound, he twisted her broken fingers. She cried out, and Flack couldn't help himself. He charged through the door and tried to make his way to Anna, even with Zane's men yelling at him with guns raised. His own men wound up stopping him though, holding him still even though he was yelling. He was soon silenced however by Zane holding his own gun to Anna's head and then cocking it. Before much could happen, part of the side wall was blown in by the back up team from the called van. Mac had stayed in the back of the group when Flack intruded, and called the back up on his cell. He told them of their position and situation, and they said they would arrive in less than two minutes. Once he was assured back up would be there soon, he put his phone away and waited in the back of the group. When Zane cocked his gun at Anna, the back up team placed a very small amount of C-4 by the side wall, and blew it in so they could enter without Zane or his men being aware. The back up entered with no problem but Zane wasn't willing to give in. He had his own placements of small explosives and when he saw Flack had run to Anna's side and was trying to free her, he hit the trigger he was holding. The explosion rocked the tiny building, knocking everyone standing to the ground, and causing several chunks of the building to collapse. A few people were injured, including Zane and one of his men, who were killed by falling rubble. The worst injuries were one of Zane's men with a broken leg and one of Flack's team with a concussion. Other wise there were only scrapes and bruises, but everyone was fine. Anna had the cut down her arm and broken fingers with a few scrapes from the explosions, but that was it. Otherwise when everyone was accounted for, ambulances were called in and the injured fixed up. From there the teams dispersed and returned to their offices to be debriefed.


	8. Things Can Change For the Better

Anna stood against the wall outside the debriefing room. She sighed heavily, exhausted from the crazy day and registering all that had happened. Eyes closed, she leaned her head back and breathed deeply, enjoying the quiet.

"Hey there." A soft, deep voice shattered the silence. Anna jumped and opened her eyes, lifting her head from the wall and looking towards the voice. "Are you tired?" The voice asked again.

Anna smiled at the handsome man that had spoken. "Yeah, but I'm fine."

"Do you wanna go home?" Flack asked, and brushed his long fingers against her cheek, icy blue eyes gazing softly into hers. His gaze was tired though, more worn out looking than she'd seen except once or twice. His usual orderly and nice-fitting suit seemed a little off center and his tie was loose. Adding to it, his clean cut dark hair was a little ruffled and there appeared to be slight 5 o'clock shadow on his jaw.

"Definetly. You look like you could use sleep."

His mouth drew up in a tired, charming grin. "This is my job, I'm used to it. You are not and shouldn't be. Let's get you home." He took her hand in his large one and they slowly walked down the short hallway, out of the building.

"Hey, uh Don?" Anna cautiously started when they arrived at his vehicle.

"Yeah babe?" He glanced at her as he opened her door then again once she was seated and he got in on the other side.

"I've been meaning to talk to you, actually, about my job. I don't think I'm gonna be doing it anymore."

"Remodeling?"

"Yeah."

"You're quitting? How come?"

"I haven't been much into it lately. And I think I've found something else I'd like more." She paused.

Flack looked over at her. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Uhm, crime scene investigation." Anna jerked against the seat belt as her boyfriend hit the brakes a little to sharply at a stop sign. Even though there were no cars coming from any direction in the darkness, the vehicle didn't move. Anna dared a glance over at eyes showed he was thinking and his jaw was clenched. "Don?" She asked.

"Anna I don't think crime scene investigation is a good idea."

"Why not?"

"It's dangerous." Flack started driving again.

"Are your job isn't?"

"That's not important."

"Yes it is. You work with crime scene investigators, and your job requires more danger than any of their's does. C'mon Don, you know I can do it. I have the degrees and the attitude to make it work. I want this."

He bit his bottom lip slightly. "Are you sure? You know it's a very unsteady schedule and you're going to need a strong stomach for it. You have to be tough with people and dedicated to what you're doing. Don't let anyone scare you or beat you down, and don-"

"Don, please." Anna smiled slightly. "I know what it all calls for, trust me. I've got you and Danny - I couldn't be more aware of what this job calls for. And I still want to do it. I've been thinking about it for several months and I talked to Danny about it today and he even thinks it'd be a good idea. I'd see you sometimes, too. It'll be perfect. What do you think?"

Flack didn't answer for a moment. Thinking over his answer. Finally he sighed, pulling into their condo's driveway. He stopped the vehicle and stared at Anna in the dark light, his blue eyes easy to see. "Honestly Anna, I've been hoping since I first got involved with you that you could work around me." She could see a faint blush on his cheeks. "I think it's a great idea and I'd like being around you more. You're right too, you are definetly qualified to work a job like crime scene investigation. Did Danny tell you about Mac?"

"What, that he's tough? Oh yeah. I can handle that though. A challenge should be fun, y'know?" She smiled and Flack grinned back.

"Alright good, cause you're gonna get one. Mac's a great guy though, as you could see from today. He's sharper than anyone I know and the best at his job. You'll be lucky to work with him." Flack opened his door when Anna did and they both walked up to the builing. "So when do you want to put in for the job?"

"As soon as possible, I suppose."

"Okay, I can contact a couple people for you and get you a reseme with no problem within a couple days. If done right we can have you interviewed before next week."

Anna smiled timidly. "Excellent." They walked up a flight of stairs to their room and Flack inserted the key, opening the door and let them both in. "You're seriously okay with me changing jobs like this?" She asked.

Flack nodded and smiled gently. "Perfectly fine. I love you Anna, and I'm behind anything you do."

"Anything?" She asked mischeviously.

Flack laughed. "Almost anything."

She grinned and stood up on her toes to kiss him. Even with her raising herself up he still had to lean down a bit, and their lips touched gently. "That's good enough for me." Anna said softly.

Spotting a couple dark brown seed looking objects on the headrest of the car's seat, Anna carefully picked them off with her tweezers and dropped them into the small paper envelope. Eyeing the steering wheel, and then sprinkling a very slight layer of print dust on it, Anna then gently pressed the clear paper against it. Pulling the sticky side of the paper off the wheel and then laying it against the darker colored paper she held up the now sealed print to see.

"Not bad for your third day."

Anna jumped at the New York accented voice beside her. She looked out of the car door to the tall man standing and watching her. "Dammit Flack, don't you know not to scare a rookie?" She smiled.

Flack shrugged. "I couldn't help it this once. How's it going?"

Anna sighed heavily and climbed out of the car. "Same as expected I suppose. Victim was found laying on the other side of the car, face down on the pavement. Male, mid twenties, blonde with brown eyes and only in his underwear. Cut across his forehead but doesn't appear to be the cause of death. We won't know until the coroner's report but the most obvious cause of death appears to be the single gun shot wound to the left shoulder. Looks close enough to the heart to have done serious damage, but it's hard to tell right now."

Flack nodded, looking around the car at the body laying on the ground. "So they got you on evidence patrol with the car?"

Anna grinned. "Can't let the rookie near the body right away."

Flack smiled back. "Of course not. Handling it okay?"

Anna nodded. "For this only being my second case, I think so."

Flack nodded now and looked around inside the car, then at Anna. "What's in the little bag?" He guestured to her small envelope.

"Oh, I'm not sure." She opened the envelope and carefully dropped out the contents into her gloved palm. "Some sort of dark substance. Like small dark rocks or wood chips, I think. Maybe charcoal?"

"Possible. Sending it to tox?"

"Of course." Anna dropped the dark pieces of evidence back into the envelope.

Flack smiled and stepped closer to her. "You're too good already, Orvelle."

"Thank you, Detective. I try."

"Mmm." Flack took a last step closer and cupped her cheek in his large palm, ice blue eyes seeming to sparkle. He pressed his mouth against hers, kissing her gently. Anna leaned into him and closed her eyes, kissing him back warmly and enjoying the feel on his hand against her skin.

"Anna, that ain't no way to get a promotion. 'Specially if Mac catches ya." The envelope holding evidence slipped from Anna's hand and fell to the ground at the New York drawl interuppting her and Flack's kiss. She and Flack looked to the sound of the voice at the same time, Flack's hand still on Anna's cheek. "And Don, that's gross. Get off my friend." Danny walked up, mouth pulled sideways in his crooked smile.

"Aw now, Messer, don't be a poor sport just cause I can kiss this pretty girl and you can't." Flack teased, but pulled his hand away from Anna.

"Pretty?" Anna acted offended.

"Easy now, I say anything more and poor Dan might have to call Taylor on us." Flack smiled.

"You two are funny, y'know that?" Danny said sarcastically and shook his head. "Flack, you get back to...whatever the hell you supposedly do." Flack made a face. "Anna, you're gonna keep testin' the car with me."

"You take the fun out of everything, Dan." Anna complained.

"Someone's gotta watch you. Horomonal spaz."

Anna couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Go tell that to Lindsay."

Danny blushed. "Shut your trap and test the car."

Flack chuckled and squeezed Anna's good hand real quick. "I'll see you home by seven at the latest, okay?"

She nodded. "Dinner?"

"I'll take you out." Anna grimaced and Flack laughed. "I swear last time won't happen again, okay? Tomorrow morning I'll be right beside you. I swear." His face grew serious - neither of them wanted last time to happen again, or anything like it.

Anna nodded. "I trust you. Dinner at seven. I'll be there."

"Love you." Flack glanced at Danny, who was still watching, and just to aggravate him, kissed Anna again.

She smiled when he pulled away. "You too. See ya tonight." He nodded and walked away to talk to the person who had found the body. Anna turned around, a smile on her face, and started processing the car again.

"You two do that much more on the job, and neither of you will have one y'know." Danny commented.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Please Danny. Give us a break, it's only my third day. We'll get better, I swear."

"Sure, sure."

"Like you and Lindsay are always in order."

"Shut up and process." Danny flashed her his crooked smile and shined his flash light under the passenger seat.

Anna laughed and studied the ignition slot for the key. "Fun sucker."


End file.
